New Home, $6 Million Expansion for Alpha Beta
TINLEY PARK, IL—Employee-owned Alpha Beta Press has embarked on a $6 million expansion and has moved from Orland Park, IL, to a new facility here in the hopes of bolstering sales from $15 million to $22 million within five years.
The new location houses complete prepress and bindery operations, a small press department and the company's main sheetfed printing equipment, consisting of two two-color presses and three new Mitsubishi presses. The acquisitions are a six-color, 28˝, Model 1F-15 and two 40˝ Model 3F-16 presses in four- and six-color configurations. The company traded in two older six-color presses and installed the Mitsubishi presses at Tinley Park.
"We were opening a new plant, so it was easier to buy new equipment and upgrade it than it was to try to move the old equipment and continue to stay productive," states Steve Smits, vice president and co-owner of Alpha Beta Press. "We accomplished the move seamlessly by operating both plants simultaneously for about four weeks. Our customers never noticed any disruption of service."
Alpha Beta Press, which also operates a smaller printing business with the same name in Merrillville, IN, is best known for producing high-end promotional pieces, direct marketing materials, product brochures and annual reports. Its markets include health care, manufacturing and financial.
The Mitsubishi presses are one facet of Alpha Beta Press' strategy to generate $22 million in the combined locations within the five-year timeframe. Productivity has increased 20 percent to 25 percent since the installation of the presses, Smits notes.
When Smits joined Alpha Beta Press in 1990, it was generating $4.8 million in sales.
"Our growth has been mainly due to the service we give and the relationships we build," he says. "For instance, these days the turnarounds on jobs are such that printers are printing on-demand for almost everybody. Many jobs that used to get two weeks to do, we're completing in three or four days. We try to provide customers with the comfort level that we'll be able to meet those deadlines and be competitive at the same time."
- People:
- Steve Smits